We've been cooking a lot from this book during the pregnancy. The recipes are okay to good, but I value this book for the nutritional information, the healthy snack and pantry item lists, and the shopping lists for key ingredients in products that I wouldn't be able to identify in the stores. For example, being anemic due to fibroids,I need extra iron and folic acid. While many foods, such as cereals, showcase their iron content, they don't provide percentages for folic acid. This book can really help with identifying key products and foods for particular health issues. ( )

Our Thoughts:

Everything this book says it’s going to do, it does. It has some delicious, and as importantly, easy recipes. Yet besides telling you what to and what not to eat, it gives you solid advice on how to order food when away from home. The back section even has a mini area on safe exercises to do during pregnancy. This is a great book even for those not pregnant and looking to begin healthy eating.

I would have liked to see some color pictures of the recipes that were given. Knowing that people eat with their eyes, they should know that pregnant women have very sensitive sensors. I can’t imagine them trying these recipes only to find out they don’t like the look of it. Not only that, but people are more apt to try new things if they look appetizing. The recipes in this book may be delicious, yet many will never know. Because of this I had to lower the overall score. While the book may give a lot of great information, it doesn’t have much appeal without images. ( )

Catherine Jones and Rose Ann Hudson are a winning combination.

“Eating For Pregnancy” is the “how to” with easy, NUTRITIOUS, and delicious ideas and recipes for breakfast, lunch, dinner, and snacks. As a practitioner of Acupuncture and Chinese Herbal Medicine, I specialize in female fertility and Women’s health. Nutrition is emphasized with all of my patients and I treat many, many women in the course of their pregnancy. The importance of eating whole foods can’t be emphasized enough—for mother and baby. This will be a great tool for my patients. Why wait til pregnancy? This book can help you now. “Your first wealth is your health.” It is beneficial to all women and can assist in all aspects of reproductive health. Easy exercise routines, high risk and post pregnancy tips are included, too.

Yes, recipes are family friendly and they will enjoy and benefit from these menus.

I love this book because it is easy to read, packed with fabulous and easy to use recipes that most women can follow. The nutritional information is presented in an easy to read, easy to understand format, highlighting the key nutritional components of each recipe. Vitamin and mineral sources are listed and condensed in chart form.
This book is very well researched and presented.
It is a labor of love. A great gift for yourself and your health. A great gift for your friends and family members. Even your doctor may need a copy to learn to how to zero in on the better health of his/her patients. This is a great read, and reference.

ISBN 978-0-7382-1352-1 Lifelong Books ( )

Eating for Pregnancy: The Essential Nutrition Guide and Cookbook for Today’s Mothers-to-be is filled with delicious recipes designed for the pregnant woman and her baby/babies.
The introduction chapter is filled with so much helpful information about nutrition; explanations of the fat groups, folic acids, and vitamins essential to a healthy mother and baby. It also has weight charts for average weight gain, including twins and sample menu ideas. The staple pantry suggestions give readers an idea of what is best for their bodies and what the healthier options are.

The recipes are easy, taste great and, with the Vegan & Vegetarian section included, cater for all dietary requirements.
I made the French Toast Banana Sandwiches one morning and my children ate it all before I got to it. A lot of the recipes can easily be made for the whole family to enjoy a healthy meal together. My children also enjoyed the Vegetarian Lasagne and the Spinach Cheese Quiche.

I tool the Beef with Broccoli and Walnut Spice Coffee cake to a baby shower recently and have since had numerous requests to borrow this amazing book.
The warnings of bacteria and diseases found in unprepared or incorrectly stored food were an eye opener to say the least. Also the food-handling guide was incredibly beneficial.

The Nine Months Later section I found particularly informative with the fitness tips, work out plans and routines. It included physical warning signs that it’s time to stop exercising.
I had problems with breastfeeding my children and found lots of helpful hints in the section on breastfeeding nutrition.
I also welcomed the addition of the Postpartum Depression chapter. With signals and signs of the depression and dietary and exercise designed to help it was a massive help to a friend of mine.

Some common questions were answered in a short Q & A section. A couple of calorie counted sample menus added helps so much with meal planning and shopping for nutritious and healthy, tasty food.

International conversion charts were a blessing for me as I am in Australia, and the websites included for further reading were full of helpful advice.
Food safety and storage charts came in handy, I hope to never find off food again. The index at the back is clear and makes it extremely easy to find a recipe or advice on a certain subject.
I would highly recommend this book for the pregnant, just had a baby or those trying to conceive. It is also very useful to anyone wanting to live healthily. ( )

Catherine Jones and Rose Ann Hudson’s book Eating for Pregnancy: The Essential Nutrition Guide and Cookbook for Today’s Mothers-to-Be is exactly what it claims to be: essential for anyone expecting. There is valuable information to be gained from this book for any pregnant woman. Contrary to popular belief, being pregnant is not an excuse to live on pickles and spicy ethnic food. It is a chance to take care of our babies long before we can ever hold them. What we eat, our babies eat, and that is the basic idea Jones and Hudson focus on in this book.

This eating guide is more than a book; it is a virtual tomb of important, yet simple to understand guidelines for taking care of our babies by looking more closely at what we put into our mouths. The information is split into three sections: nutritional information you need to know while you’re pregnant, healthy recipes, and post-pregnancy nutritional information. The nutritional information is very thorough, but laid out in easy-to-understand language. Topics covered include weight gain, essential minerals and vitamins, high-risk pregnancies, planning a healthy diet, nutrition for breastfeeding mothers, alleviating postpartum depression, and staying in shape after giving birth. There are even exercises with pictures to help you get your pre-baby body back. It has all the information I ever wondered about and more! I was able to find the answers to all the nutrition questions I had.

While the nutritional information is interesting, I’d be lying if I didn’t say my favorite part was the recipes! There are 150 nutrient-packed and great tasting recipes for breakfast, lunch, dinner, and dessert. The recipes also cover soups and salads, snacks, and meals for vegetarians or vegans. Before I got into this book, I was assuming that while these foods would be good for me, they would taste terribly. I decided that it was a small sacrifice to pay for my baby’s health, but I was incredibly surprised by how tasty these recipes were. My favorites are Banana Muffins with Walnuts and Wheat Germ, Super Fruit Smoothies, Grilled Cheese, Pasta Salad with Basil Pesto, Spinach Dip, Cucumber-Tomato Yogurt Salad, Three-Bean Vegetarian Chili, Southern-Style Sweet Potato Casserole, Chicken with Homemade Barbecue Sauce, Homemade Chicken Tenders, Pumpkin Pie, Carrot Cake with Cream-Cheese Frosting, and Walnut Spice Coffee Cake. The list of recipes I liked from this book is much longer than those I didn’t really care for. I haven’t tried all the recipes, but I plan on using this book throughout my pregnancy and even after! These recipes really are good enough to eat without being pregnant. Just ask my husband! ( )